Knicks vs Pacers Prediction, Picks Today | Best Bet for Saturday

Here's everything you need to know about Knicks vs Pacers on Saturday, Dec. 30 — our Knicks vs Pacers prediction and picks today for the best bet for Saturday.

The Knicks are flying from Orlando to Indianapolis to take on the Pacers on the second night of a back to back, and they'll be shorthanded after completing a trade for OG Anunoby. Can they rally and get back in the win column or will fatigue prove too powerful? Let’s break it down.

Let's get to our Knicks vs. Pacers prediction and pick.

The Knicks have struggled as of late as they’ve lost three of their last four games and two straight games. They rank 10th in net-rating and are just 17-14 on the year. This may be a tough matchup for them here as they are on a back to back against this young Pacers squad. The Pacers rank sixth in offensive three point attempt rate and the Knicks rank 24^th in defensive three point attempt rate allowed.

The Knicks' defense also ranks 16^th in transition defensive rating while the Pacer offense ranks second in in transition offensive rating. I expect the Pacer offense to excel here as the Knick defense has completely fallen off a cliff since losing Mitchell Robinson to injury.  Their current starting lineup has a defensive rating of 127.3 across 220 possessions. This rested Pacers offense should be able to expose this awful Knick defense.

One area where the Knicks will have an advantage is the offensive glass, as the Knicks rank second in offensive rebound rate while the Pacers rank 28^th in defensive rebound rate. Isaiah Hartenstein should be in line for a massive night here. I spoke about how much the Knick defense has struggled as of late but this Pacer defense might be historically bad as they rank 29^th in defensive rating despite playing the fourth-easiest schedule of opposing offenses. Everyone is talking about how fun and exciting this Pacer squad is because of how elite their offense has been (secondin ORTG), but in reality this has been a slightly below average team, ranking just 20^th in net-rating (-0.4). This historically bad defense is holding back an exciting offense and unless they make a move there is no path to improvement there given how weak their schedule has been already.

The Pacers rank dead-last in rim-rate and 28^th in defensive rebound rate which indicates to me that this is just an awful defensive team, as those are the basic things all of the great defenses get right. Knicks like Hart and Julius Randle should be able to live in the paint tonight and score at well. Hart especially will excel in transition here as the Pacers rank dead-last in transition defensive rating in the NBA. Hart is the Knicks' best transition player, so targeting his alt lines could be interesting here.

I am not in a rush to back the Knicks as underdogs on a back to back in their current state. I would look to back the over 247.5 given how both of these defenses are trending. The Knicks have struggled lately but they still rank top-10 in offensive rating and we know how good this Pacer offense is. Take the over here.

Pick: Over 247.5